Cookalong tonight with Frida and Ciana in Frisco, Dallas Texas, USA and me here in Sollentuna Sweden. Tonight we made high protein Lasagne. I even made my own Lasagne noodles from scratch. In this Lasagne we made the meatsauce with ground Turkey meat, shredded carrots, chopped unions and garlic and tomatosauce with herbes. I used my own homemade tomatoe and vegetable sauce. Instead of bechamelsauce we made a filling with cottage cheese, lowfat Youghurt, eggs and herbes. Frida and Ciana had a layer with Zuccini and I had a layer with Spinnach. It turned out so great!
Ingredients:
- 500 g ground turkey
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 carrots, shredded
- 1 red pepper chopped or 1 Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
- 7 dl of your favorite pasta sauce (I used my own homemade)
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the filling:
- 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
For the lasagna:
- 12 lasagna noodles ( Or homemade like I did)
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 cups shredded baby Swiss cheese
- ½ cup Pamesan cheese
- 1 Zuccini (sliced as thin lasagna noodles) or some handful spinnach
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 177 Celsius degrees (350 Fahrenheit degrees). Spray a baking tray (9 x 13 inch) with cooking spray.
For the sauce and noodles:
Sweat the onions in a saucepan. Chop and fry the ground turkey with salt and pepper. Break apart the meat with a spatula, until no pink remains and combine turkey, onion, carrots, tomato sauce, garlic and spices in a large, deep sauce pan. Cook over medium high heat. Allow the sauce to simmer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a fat pinch of salt and swirl of oil (this helps keep the noodles from sticking.) Add the noodles to the pot and cook for about 2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain noodles then lay them out on aluminum foil so they’ll be ready to go later.
For the filling:
In a medium bowl, stir together the cottage cheese, egg, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Set aside.
To layer:
Spread a very scant layer of meat sauce on the bottom of the pan. Top with noodles laid lengthwise in the pan. Spread half the cheese mixture and shredded cheese on top followed by a layer of more noodles. Spread half of the remaining sauce over the noodles. Spread all of the cottage cheese mixture on top of the sauce, followed by more noodles. Finish with the remaining sauce and cheese on the top layer.
If you have zucchini make one layer in the middle. If you have spinach add it to one middle layer.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 – 45 minutes or until cheese is melted and browned and the lasagna is cooked to your satisfaction.
Tomatoe and vegetable sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 red pepper
- 1 yellow pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 400 ml water
- 2 tins of tomatoes
- 1 tsp mixed herbs
- Basil to garnish
Directions
Preheat the oven for 375˚F (190˚C).
Rost the bell peppers in the oven on a baking sheet until they have some color. Take out and take the skin off.
If you have fresh tomatoes skin the tomatoes. To do that cut a cross in one end. Put them in boiling water for a minute. Take out and place in a bowl with icecold water (put icecubes in). Then it is really easy to remove the skin.
Make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch (30-cm) oven-safe pan over medium-high heat. Cut the yellow onion, carrot, bell peppers, garlic into small pieces. Sauté the garlic, carrot, onion and bell peppers until soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, than add the crushed tomatoes. Stir until the ingredients are fully incorporated. Let the sauce zimmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, than add the basil. Stir once more, than mix in a mixer.
If you want to make it really authentic make a Bouquet garni with the herbs before adding in the sauce and zimmering.
Bouquet garni
Bouquet garni, which is French for “garnished bouquet,” is a classic herb mixture used for preparing stocks, soups, casseroles, meats, and vegetables. The traditional combination is parsley, thyme, and bay leaf, but you may find recipes that include other herbs such as rosemary, basil, chervil, peppercorn, and tarragon. You can make bouquet garni with fresh or dried herbs. If the herbs are fresh, the combination is secured with a bit of cooking twine, while cheesecloth is generally used to wrap the dried herbs, and the bundle is secured with twine. You can also use a teasif.
Using a bouquet garni instead of simply adding the herbs to your dish helps with flavor, texture, convenience, and presentation. Fresh herbs will get soggy and often discolor when left to cook for a long time, and dry herbs are not the most attractive when floating at the top of a finished dish. Bundling up the herbs—whether dried or fresh—also makes for easy removal.
If you would like to use fresh herbs in your bouquet garni, an ideal combination is 4 or 5 sprigs of parsley, 1 or 2 sprigs of thyme, and 1 bay leaf. Gather the parsley and thyme sprigs, place the bay leaf on top, and use a piece of kitchen twine to bind it all together, keeping one piece of the string long enough so you can easily pull out the herb bundle.
Homemade Lasagne noodles
Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups (300 g) of flour
- 3 eggs
- 4 tablespoons (50 ml) of lukewarm water
- salt to taste
Instructions:
Making the noodles
Put the flour on the working surface and make a hole in the middle like a volcano.
Open the egg in the centre of the crater and beat slightly with a fork. Add the water, a pinch of salt and start mixing the liquids. Then start adding flour to the mix gently digging the side of the crater with the fork. Little by little the dough will harden.
When the dough starts “staying together” dig your hands and start kneading it, blending and pressing with the lower part of your palm for many times.
If it remains too dry and in flakes add a small quantity of water just wetting your palms. Repeat if needed until you get a dough soft and elastic. You can check if it´s elastic enough putting a finger in the dough: if the dough returns in its previous shape and the hole disappears it’s ready.
Let it rest under a humid tea cloth for half an hour.
On a surface well dusted roll the dough in a thin sheet with a rolling pin and cut the shape and size to fit your pan.
You boil the lasagne noodles in well salted water for a few minutes and than place them in cold water while preparing to layer the lasagne.
Bj's Live Kitchen 